[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 48 (Thursday, April 28, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: April 28, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
              PROFESSIONAL BOXING CORPORATION ACT OF 1993

  (Mr. RICHARDSON asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. RICHARDSON. Mr. Speaker, this weekend's heavyweight championship 
fight between Evander Holyfield and Michael Moorer demonstrates that 
professional boxing is in dire need of reform and Federal oversight.
  It has now been revealed that Holyfield, the great champion, has been 
fighting with a serious heart ailment over the years. One physician at 
the fight stated that it was a miracle that Holyfield was able to 
finish the fight without serious injury.
  The very able chairman of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Consumer 
Protection, and Competitiveness, the subcommittee of jurisdiction, the 
gentlewoman from Illinois [Mrs. Collins] held a hearing on boxing 
reform this last Tuesday which I commend to all my colleagues.
  Mr. Speaker, many of us in this Chamber, Republican and Democrat, 
have been trying to set up a Federal Boxing Commission with the express 
purpose of developing and enforcing uniform health and safety standards 
for professional boxing in all 50 States. For every multimillion dollar 
fighter like Holyfield and Moorer, there are hundreds of young ghetto 
kids that have no worker protection, no pensions, and are often at the 
mercy of unscrupulous promoters.
  Mr. Speaker, money should not dictate what happens in boxing. Safety 
issues in this sport need to be addressed.

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